Amino can help you understand your choices, but we don’t endorse any doctors or offer
medical advice.
Learn more.

Amino and The Bancorp Bank neither endorse nor guarantee any of the
information, recommendations, optional programs, products, or services
advertised, offered by, or made available through any external website
(“Products and Services”) and disclaim any liability for any failure of
the Products and Services.

Health savings accounts (HSAs) are individual accounts offered by The
Bancorp Bank, Member FDIC, and are subject to eligibility requirements
and restrictions on deposits and withdrawals to avoid IRS penalties.
State taxes may apply. The content on this website is not intended as
legal or tax advice. Federal and state laws and regulations are subject
to change. The Amino HSA Visa® Debit Card is issued by The Bancorp
Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc.

5 little-known HSA perks that offer huge healthcare savings

HSAs are a great antidote to rising healthcare costs, but most employees don't use them to their full advantage.

Health savings accounts (HSAs) are the perfect financial safety net for out-of-pocket healthcare costs. But a quarter of American employees who are eligible to open an HSA never do. That adds up to 7.3 million people who could be saving on healthcare costs, but aren’t.

Understanding (and communicating) all the benefits of an HSA can be confusing — but it doesn’t have to be. Below are five little-known HSA perks that offer major benefits.

1. You can share your HSA with your family

If you’re married or have children, this is a huge benefit. You can use your HSA to pay for any qualified medical expenses your spouse or children incur — even if they’re not part of your high deductible health plan (HDHP).

The IRS also allows you to use your HSA to cover healthcare costs for anyone you claim as a dependent on your tax return, including foster children, adopted children, and relatives you support.

2. You can pay less in taxes

HSAs are the triple-tax-advantaged, meaning you save money three ways:

By contributing pre-tax dollars to your HSA, you lower your taxable income. Plus, any contributions you make with after-tax dollars can be deducted from your total income on your tax return.

Unlike other investment accounts, any interest you earn on the money in your HSA is tax-free.

Last, but certainly not least: you don’t have to pay tax on any withdrawals you make from your HSA for qualified medical expenses, now or in the future.

This makes HSAs the most tax-advantaged savings account in the country. You get more money to put toward healthcare expenses, while owing less to the IRS.

3. You can rollover your savings

Unlike flexible spending accounts (FSAs), which have a maximum carry over amount of $500 per year, HSAs have no limit on how much you can carry over. For example, if you contribute $3,450 (the maximum amount for an individual plan in 2018) but only use $1,350 of that to meet your deductible, you’d have $2,100 left in your account to use next year.

This includes contributions made by your employer or anyone else and can go on indefinitely, making an HSA a great investment. The money in your account collects interest, so the more that’s in there, the more interest it will earn.

You can also keep your HSA if you change jobs or retire. As long as you still have a HDHP, you can continue making contributions. If you have an HSA but no longer have a HDHP, you’re still free to use the money for qualifying medical expenses but you won’t be able to make any more contributions.

4. You can play catch up with contributions

Each year, the government sets an HSA contribution limit. This means you can't deposit more money into your HSA over the course of a year than this pre-set limit. But there's a little-known rule that lets people who switch to an HSA mid-year catch up: the last month rule.

Let’s say you don’t have a HDHP for most of 2018 but you switch to one on or before December 1st, 2018. You would still be allowed to contribute the maximum amount to your HSA for that year ($3,450 for individual plans, $6,900 for family plans).

While it’s a good idea to contribute the maximum amount to your HSA each year, that may not be possible if you’ve just started contributing at the end of the year. The last month rule is great because it gives you the option of making prior year contributions to your HSA until the tax filing deadline, April 15th. This essentially gives you an extra 3 and a half months to contribute to your HSA.

5. You can use it for anything after age 65

Before age 65, you can only use your HSA to pay for qualified medical expenses (without incurring a penalty). Not many people know that this restriction is lifted when you turn 65, so you can use your HSA for non-medical expenses.

Distributions used for non-qualified expenses after age 65 are subject to ordinary income tax rates, like any non-Roth IRA or 401(k) retirement account. But the more you contribute to your HSA now, the more you’ll have available later in life when you need it most.

Why are we so passionate about HSAs?

Healthcare is now Americans’ top financial concern, according to Gallup. 64% want to lower their healthcare costs, but don’t know how. At Amino, we think HSAs are key to employees’ success in navigating this high cost healthcare world.

We’ve reimagined the idea of an HSA, with simple, easy-to-use features like real-time transaction tracking and and receipt upload. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Amino can help you understand your choices, but we don’t endorse any doctors or offer
medical advice.
Learn more.

Amino and The Bancorp Bank neither endorse nor guarantee any of the
information, recommendations, optional programs, products, or services
advertised, offered by, or made available through any external website
(“Products and Services”) and disclaim any liability for any failure of
the Products and Services.

Health savings accounts (HSAs) are individual accounts offered by The
Bancorp Bank, Member FDIC, and are subject to eligibility requirements
and restrictions on deposits and withdrawals to avoid IRS penalties.
State taxes may apply. The content on this website is not intended as
legal or tax advice. Federal and state laws and regulations are subject
to change. The Amino HSA Visa® Debit Card is issued by The Bancorp
Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc.